Chapter 705: I'll Be Home "Alone"
I returned home after another day at school and I was greeted at the door by Katsuki as usual.
"Welcome home, Mistress. How was your day today?" She greeted me with a bow.
"Surprisingly peaceful if I were to be honest. Did anything happen at home?"
"Not at all Mistress. Although the Madam has requested Mistress to meet her in the garden once you return."
Oh? Mother is looking for me? I guess I shouldn't keep her waiting then.
I gave Katsuki a pat on her head and thanked her for telling me before I headed over to the garden.
Katsuki followed a step behind me, just like she usually would.
Right now, I was the only one home from school since Delmare, Odeta and Lisa still had classes.
Although I guess Tiara was somewhere around or something… I realised I haven't really seen the princess a lot after the training camp because she seemed to have been concentrating a lot on training herself, almost as much as Odeta did.
When I reached the garden, I found Mother sitting at one of our gazebos with a book in her hands.
She closed the book the moment she saw me approach and a smile materialised on her face.
"Welcome home my little one~ How was school today?"
"It was ok, Mommy. You were looking for me?"
"Ufufufu~ Mama certainly was~ Come over here~" She requested, pushing herself back to pat on her lap.
I realised what she wanted and went over to sit on her lap with my back facing her.
Mother immediately hugged me to her chest and started stroking my head.
"Ufufufu~ My little one is the cutest~ It has been a while since Mama did this~"
"Umm… Mommy did this yesterday though?"
"Ara, ara? Even just half a day without my little one is long for Mama~"
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I can believe that.
I was just about to ask whether Mother called me here just so that she could cuddle me when Mary suddenly appeared through a portal while pushing a cart.
A cart that was piled high with all kinds of sweets.
I was already drooling when she started to place the plates of sweets in front of me and I realised that Mother must have called me here just so that she could pamper me with all these sweets.
You'll definitely hear no complaints from me about this!
As soon as the first plate was brought within my reach, I immediately started losing myself in the delicacies presented in front of me.
Ahhh!! They're so goooood!! And this taste… These were personally made by Mary! They're all so sweeeet!! Ahhhhhh!!!
Hmm? This one tastes a little different… Ohhhh! These are made by Eldoria for sure! They have the taste of our old World as compared to Mary's~
But they're both so good!! Ahhh!! Thank you for arranging this, Mommyyyyy! I love youuuuu!!
Om nom nom nom~
Everything was finished in a blink of an eye and I found myself completely satisfied even though this was less than what I would usually eat.
Getting to taste both Mary's and Eldoria's sweets already makes me feel way too spoiled so I could not ask for more.
I was busy licking my fingers clean when Mother started wiping my mouth with a napkin from behind.
"Ufufufu~ Did you enjoy that, my little one?"
"Yesshhhh~ Thank you, Mommy~"
"Ara, ara? No, no~ Thank you, my little one~"
I don't know why Mother was thanking me instead but I couldn't ask her since she turned me around and hugged my face into her chest.
I could only stay there and struggle against her hug halfheartedly until she finally released me.
Mother then giggled before patting my head, "Now~ My little one might be wondering why I called you out here, yes?"
"Eh? Was it not just to eat all those sweets?"
"Ufufufu~ That was part of the reason but not the main reason~ Mama just wants to tell you that Mama will be going away for a little while starting next week."
I blinked at her, "Mommy is going somewhere?"
She nodded, "Little Justinia is doing an inspection around the country and Mama will be joining her to make sure nothing goes wrong~ Is my little one ok with that?"
"How long will you be gone?"
"Mnnn… Mama will say at least four months."
Oh wow, that's pretty long.
"Is Mommy taking me along?"
I honestly expected Mother to bring me with her just like how she brought me to the other places but surprisingly, she shook her head.
"Unfortunately, Mama will not be able to take you along this time, my little one. There will be other nobles there and a part of the reason why little Justinia is going is to root out some of the bad apples amongst the nobility~"
I understood that this would basically be a culling of the traitors and corrupt nobles within their ranks and Mother probably didn't want me to be near something as complicated as that.
But geez… Four months for this? Just how far were they planning to travel around just to do this?
Actually… Considering how big the territory is… I guess four months is actually a pretty short amount of time for something like this.
"Unnn… Ok, Mommy… I'll miss you though."
And I wasn't just saying that, I would definitely miss her a lot.
Mother giggled, "And I'll miss you too, my little one. Don't worry, Mama will still come back from time to time during the trip~"
Oh yeah, Mary could just teleport back here whenever they want… So it's more like Mother would be accompanying the King on her trip but would still jump back here during the trip itself.
That kind of meant nothing would change much, right? I guess the biggest change would be the fact that Mother would not constantly be around or something?
I guess Mother just wanted me to know that in case I looked for her and she wasn't around the house.
That was when Mother poked me on the nose, "And… If my little one wants to bring some friends over from school and have a party… You have Mama's permission to do so~"
… Is this the 'parents are away so the kids throw a party at the house' scenario? I'm surprised this is even a thing here. Then again, I guess there are people who do that here as well.
"Oh, you mean bring them over to that manor by the vineyard right?" I asked, referencing the place that was used to celebrate my last birthday where I invited a few of my schoolmates.
"Ara, ara~ Nothing as boring as that, my little one~ You can just bring them over here instead~"
I blinked at her, "But… Wouldn't that reveal to them that I'm related to the Nilm Family?"
"Ufufufu~ At the start of course~ All you need to do is wipe out their memories afterwards and everything will be fine~"
…
Firstly, did Mother really just suggest that I wipe out other people's memories?
Secondly, wouldn't that just make it pointless anyway since they wouldn't even remember what happened while they were here? Was it just a way to say just live in the moment or something?
I don't really see a point if I brought some friends over, revealed that I'm actually the daughter of Mother, had a party with them, then made them completely forget that they even came here in the first place.
As though reading my mind, Mother giggled, "They would not completely forget everything my little one~ We could selectively erase some memories where they would forget the revelation of your identity but keep the memory of spending the night with you~"
I blinked once again, trying to make sure that I wasn't hearing things.
"We… Can do that?"
"Ufufufu~ I will admit that Lisa has been quite helpful in that regard~ Especially with that memory wipe potion of hers~ But yes, if my little one wishes to, it can be done~ You could bring some friends over, let them realise who you really are, then have a slumber party before sending them home with them only remembering attending the party with you.
They would not be able to recall anything about who you are~"
That actually sounds quite scary…
"And it works on anyone?"
"Anyone who isn't recognised as a member of our family~"
"How does it work?"
"Ufufufu~ It's something I enchanted on the mansion my little one~ What do you think Mama has been doing the past year?"
Err… You actually showed no signs of working on an enchantment like this if I were to be honest…
"What are the limits though?" I asked.
Mother then tapped me on the nose, "Ara, ara~ My little one is so cute~ You don't need to worry about it, Mama has already taken care of everything~ You just need to accept it and go have fun my little one~"
But it's not like I even planned to have a party in the first place though? So why would Mother even create something like… Oh… Ohhhh…
Oh shit… I know now… She intends to make use of this for my next birthday or some other celebration, isn't she? So we no longer need to pretend our house is that manor…
She really is planning that far ahead huh?
I'm not going to complain though… So I guess maybe I should plan a slumber party soon?